coffee and a movie

 I met Amy at the Apple (no connection with Tim Cook & gang) movie house on Van Ness. But first a latte at the new Emerald coffee shop which reminded me of posh European hang outs. Marty Supreme is based on a true story about a NYC character who becomes a phenomenal ping pong player. It's a good movie, but not great, in my insignificant opinion.

maybe this year

 I grew up in Pasadena and we dragged ourselves and lots of stuff to the Rose Parade every single year. I do not have happy childhood memories of those times and so I never watch the parade. But this year, after a 50 year absence, San Francisco will have a float and people have been decorating it in Union Square. So  I might watch The Parade on tv this year. Or not.

yay ~ a Scottish detective

 Mission accomplished yesterday ~ this little house is free of red and green baubles and bangles. Flat spaces re-emerged and yes, I did organize the big plastic holiday box. Done. My reward was to begin the three seasons of Karen Pirie on Prime. Happiness (well, satisfaction) reigns on many levels this morning.

slowly and surely

 This year I will ORGANIZE the holiday decor when I put it away. This year I will give excess ribbons and bags to the Salvation Army. This year I will not just toss everything into a big plastic bin. Even though I didn't have a tree I still brought lots of red and green treasures up from the garage. All sort of haphazard, but all sort of pretty. Now I'm ready to go back to normal and so I am reading the Sunday paper and taking a few things down at a time. There will be rhyme and reason in the put-backs this year. Maybe...

many years ago

 It's our wedding anniversary. Usually one or both of us would forget, but now, of course I honor the day. We were married on a cold Saturday at the Highlands Inn in Carmel, California. It was hectic. Sometimes our lives were hectic. Today I use Husbando's everyday coffee mug, a gift from Blogmaid because we all loved the tv program Homicide Life on the Street. This coffee tastes bitter sweet this morning.

one grand Christmas Day!

 With warm and sincere thanks to Mr. and Ms. Blogmaid for hosting. It was a day that we will all remember, filled with fabulous food and lively conversations and so much beauty and warmth.

merry, merry and so on

 Christmas Eve Day was nice and quiet for me and I splurged on lox and bagels down at the corner cafe and then enjoyed a good walk. We are having plentiful rains and the gardens are benefitting. Two power outages last night during another rain storm, but I was fine with fresh batteries in candles and flashlights. Today is clear and Neti and I head to Pumpkinville for a happy holiday celebration.

and not one xmas carol

 I read about Relay on Instagram (I think) and since I am a big fan of Riz Ahmed I watched it on the Flix® last night. He does not disappoint in this cat-and-mouse thriller. Riz helps whistleblowers fight big old nasty corporations. Thumbs up.

'tis quite wonderful

 Yes, cards from near and far. I do love seeing and hearing all the news from friends and relatives every year. Memories from my youth ~ twice a day mail deliveries during the holiday season. Snail mail will always be special to me and I love when young people (and oldies!) write to me the old fashioned way. 

into the crowds

 I was tempted to stay home because this is probably my least favorite musical, but we know that comfy isolation can be dangerous, so I went Into the Woods yesterday at the SF Playhouse. The actors, scenery and costumes were all fabulous, but well, you know ~ chaos. Inside and out. TONS of people downtown in the bad weather, but my Lyft rides were excellent and I had some laughs with Neti and her friend Getty and all in all an ok day. But yes, happy to get home, as per usual.

very bad timing

 Poor merchants, symphony, ballet, theater, restaurants, tourists. This time we are fine here in Bernal Heights but much of my city still suffers this morning. It started yesterday about 3:30 pm and what a mess. All the Waymos were confused and called home (wherever that is) and a few BART stations were closed. Some sort of fire in a PG&E substation. Drat.

fame and sorrow

 I watched Jay Kelly on the Flix® last night. Certainly not the best movie ever made, but I am glad that I saw it and it surely beats all those xmas specials for sure.

shopping and lunch

 Yesterday I walked to/fro on fun Fillmore Street and finished my holiday shopping before joining Pat, Neti and Jeanine for lunch at Eliza's on California Street. Basic Chinese, but we were all in sunny moods as we prepare for some rain that will be arriving later today and staying for awhile. 

my third visit and still impressed

 My neighbors and friends walked down with me to Precita Social last night for our holiday celebration and we were not disappointed. The restaurant was busy and festive and the food was excellent. Rob and Heidi are so good to me and they fly back east next week to be with family so we enjoyed our yummy steak, pasta, etc. and talked of many things. 

a good walk, then tea

 Heidi and I met for tea at Gini's yesterday. First I walked to/fro on Sacramento Street which is nice and flat (no hills) and features expensive stores and restaurants.  Their tree is beautiful and the tea was most welcome. I love their ancestor wall ~ always very interesting with a new baby addition this year.

we all mourn

 This horrible Reiner family tragedy. I have no words for this unspeakable horror. Heartbreaking sorrow.

a comic break, please

 I will never know why there is so much tragedy this time of year. It is easy to fall into a gloomy mood when reading all the news. Having a mean imbecile for our President helps nothing. I do recommend the latest Knives Out (#3) on Netflix. The best so far, in my opinion. Fun stuff.

when writers party

 We met at Doug and Barb's yesterday and yes, a perfectly wonderful day with laughter and tears and lots more food than the photo above featuring KFC from Eric. An old tradition. Doug played the piano and Will his cello (Ravel's Dead Princess) and that was a delightful duet. Will is the tallest and always puts the starfish on the tree top. We laughed, we cried, we ate too much ~ my tribe. Bless them all.

meeting at the Chit Chat Cafe

 Thanks to the Blogmaid for the photos and for meeting me for coffee/bagel yesterday in Pathetica. I do love the fisher woman top shot ~ we sometimes forget that our pier down there is used daily for basic human food needs, not just because it is adds so much to the visual beauty of the often stormy ocean.

holiday touches

 I went to Costco yesterday for some peppermint bark and a lot more sugar which I do NOT need. I saw the ugly Grinch there but actually the other shoppers and staff were all friendly and nice. We love that Costco is suing the Trump administration, of course. 

like a bird on a wire

 I snapped this photo yesterday before sunset because the crows were all lined up there on the right. This city has magical light this time of year, in my opinion, and that is one of the reasons artists flock (get it?) here. This Leonard Cohen song from 1969 has always appealed to me:

Like a bird on the wire
Like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free
Like a worm on a hook
Like a knight from some old fashioned book
I have saved all my ribbons for thee

there is work to do

 I need to get busy watching these nominations, which I was going to print out and drop in here for you, but I do not have time this morning, so you will need to do your own research. In the meantime, the fun ceremony will be on Sunday, January 11th, 5pm, and this is already in my 2026 calendar. 

we love the aroma

 I bought some overpriced green sprigs (technically probably little branches) to bring the smell of the holidays into our home since I don't DO the tree anymore. Annabelle was a bit too appreciative and I keep an eye on her after watching all the fun videos of cats and xmas trees on Instagram.

my writing life

 Sis gave me this delightful book which I am loving so much. I have been writing on an almost daily basis now for 25 plus years. This past week I wrote with Chef Sarah up in Napa. We can and do write freely with one another and I treasure her friendship. She said I could use her paragraph here and I do so because it expresses my feelings so perfectly. (Tiapos is the name of our writing group, as you may remember: This is a piece of shit.) Sarah's writing is definitely not, while mine often is. Here from Sarah Scott:

All this made me appreciate all the years with Jane and Tiapos up to the present and the format of reading with an emphasis on positive feedback and never telling someone what to do or how to do it. The generosity of fellow writers listening, considering with care, commenting with finesse, wisdom and mostly kindness is a precious gift. It provides a safe space to share imperfect, intimate, newborn writing. 

 

 

animal world

 I did some dog sitting for Jen and Stacie's two rascals (Charli and Birdie) yesterday afternoon and that worked out well as a delicious tuna sandwich was included in the deal. Then last night Lynn next door (who is visiting from Puerto Rico) brought me yummy miso soup. Annabelle adores Lynn and managed to knock her coat to the floor and snuggle there which is unusual behavior for my cat, but sweet for sure.

catch this documentary

 Mariska Hargitay has always been a favorite actor of mine, mostly from all her work on Law & Order. My Mom Jayne is very well done, in my opinion. The interviews with her brothers and sisters tell us so much and of course the shocking death of her glamorous and talented mother, Jayne Mansfield. This is on HBO Max and I think it will win awards in 2026. Ah, family.

books are back downtown

t

 Ah, nice. The Best Bookstore has opened at 226 Powell Street in Union Square. Small, warm and friendly and already busy. I had a chat with the owner and I certainly wish him well. The shelf labels were all still hand written and he was still stocking, but everyone, please support all bookstores everywhere.